of all other nations which they conquered But this beast sendeth out her Idoles and Saintes and pettie gods and commendeth them to the worshippers promising great things if they doe it Another marke followeth that she hath in her forehead a name written A mysterie This verie name in letters was written on the Popes Myter which hee did weare vpon his head and so they vsed it for a season Their Myters were branded with this marke Mysterium But they after tooke it out and now they vse not to beare that name in their foreheads But in the forehead of the whore that is of their whorish Religion it is written still but none saue Gods elect can reade it For the poyson and infection of their Religion is secrete It hath a goodly shewe it beguileth many For they keepe the names of Scripture and Christian religion but they haue turned them into another meaning yea they commend the basest and vilest ceremonie that they vse as a great mysterie Wherefore albeit the name mysterium be taken out of the Popes miter yet it remaineth still in the forehead of his religion Iohn commeth yet neerer and pointeth out the very place vnto vs for he calleth it great Babylon for as Babylon had the Monarchie and oppressed and caried captiue Gods people so likewise did both the olde and the newe Rome the first and the latter beast and so he calleth it when he speaketh of the fall thereof It is fallen it is fallen Babylon the great citie And in many other thinges was Rome like to Babylon as in the building but especially in the Monarchie and oppression of the Saintes All this the Papistes will graunt of olde Rome but not of newe Rome But if the first beast be olde Rome and the latter reuiueth the first then the first being Rome the second must needes also be Rome and therefore while he pointeth out one he pointeth out both Some Papistes haue imagined that Antichrist should make his seate at Babylon in the East or there be borne and so the name to be taken here in his proper signification But why then doeth he call it a mysterie There is in her forehead a name written a mysterie great Babylon It is Babylon in a mysterie and not in the proper signification of the name To point out Rome by the dominion which it had by the Empire and should haue by the popedome he sayeth further The waters which thou sawest where the whore sitteth are people and multitudes and nations and tongues and afterwarde more plainely The woman which thou sawest is the great citie which reigneth ouer the kings of the earth Two or three notes yet he addeth to describe the citie and gouernment and authoritie thereof One when he sayth The beast that thou hast seene was and is not And againe The beast that was and is not and yet is The Monarchie was there vnder Augustus Tiberius and some that followed most flourishing but now in Iohns time is not and yet is for vnder Domitian it did not flourish and therefore was not in comparison of that it had bene and yet was then for it had great power But after this it should ascende out of the bottomlesse pit euen out of hell by the subtiltie of the deuill after it was quite ouerthrowne by the Goths for it was reuiued and quickned in the Pope and Rome had as much authoritie by the papacie and as much riches as euer it had by the Monarchie The other note is when he saith I will shew thee the mysterie of the woman and of the beast that beareth her which hath seuen heades and ten hornes But of the ten hornes because they are set for ten kings I will speake afterward when I shall speake of the kings that ioyne with the beast in the fight against him that rideth on the horse Therefore of the seuen heades thus he saith Here is the minde that hath wisedome The seuen heades are seuen mountaines whereon the woman sitteth they are also seuen Kings First of the mountaines then of the Kings The woman sitteth vpon seuen hils and the woman is a citie Rome then on seuen hils and the latter beast reuiueth the first No matter if this Rome stande not vpon all seuen nay if it stande vpon none of them so that it stande for that Rome that stoode vpon them hath that name and dignitie and answereth to it in idolatrous religion and cruell persecution of the Saints Then was Rome well knowen to stande on seuen hils No other citie did so no other citie bearing rule ouer Kinges doeth so It was called Septicollis of the seuen chiefe hils whereon it stoode Virgil hath relation to them when hee sayeth Septem quae vna sibi muro circumdedit arces Meaning by towres the hilles on which that stoode And Propertius sayeth Septem vrbs alta nigis toto quae praesidet orbi Romulus sette it on foure hilles which were called Palatinus Capitolinus Auentinus and Exquilinus Afterward Seruius Tullus added three which were Caelius Viminalis and Quirinalis From this time was it called Septicollis although when it was further inlarged it comprehēded mo hils And the second beast with his kingdome and dominion is most fitly described by the citie for they challenge all their priuiledges by the citie Because Peter they say was Bishoppe there thence euen from the place they deriue all their authoritie There they delight to dwell although other cities are more pleasant and commodious There the Cardinals must meete when they choose the Pope there all the counsels and conspiracies are made against Gods Church Bellarmine maketh so great account of the citie that if the Pope should be driuen thence or it be destroied yet wheresoeuer he were he should still haue the honour and dignitie and title of the Pope of Rome Thus here by the seuen hils the very place is noted As in this Chapter Rome is most expresly described so of learned men in the sixteenth it is thought almost to be named They gather themselues together in a place called in Hebrewe Armageddon Foxe and others take it to be an allusion to Megiddo and Har megiddo the riuer and hill so called where Sisera with his armie was ouerthrowne which should signifie the like euent to the battels of the beast But for as much as it may be read so in some bookes was in two wordes each of two syllables arma geddon and Sigonius saith he sawe it written Geddon harma and the letter N. is not in the name of the place where Sisera was ouercome therefore it is thought that some other thing then the allusion to Megiddo must be found in the letters the signification of the word If Iohn had meant the place Megiddo he neede not haue said it is named so in Hebrewe for the name only would haue referred vs to that place although he had left out the mention of the language The signification of Geddon harma agreeeth well to the
be that folow it Let thē therfore boast of the greater number yea nūber not naked but armed furnished instructed to fight We grant it them It was theirs much more then it is and yet is theirs more then I hope it will be heereafter The holy ghost hath giuen them the multitude for a time A great number was signified to adhaere to the beast when it is said He caused the earth and them that dwell therein to worship the first beast And againe He deceiued them that dwell on the earth And yet more He caused that as manie as woulde not worship the image of the beast should be killed And further He made all both small and great rich and poore free and bond to receiue a marke in their right hand or in their forehead and that no man might buy nor sell but he that had the marke or the name of the beast or the number of his name Thus in the thirteenth chapter the greater number is shewed to appertaine vnto the beast In the seuenteenth chapter it is called the great whore the great citie and it is said moreouer The waters which thou sawest where the whore sitteth are people and multitudes and nations and tongues And to omit many other places heere at last it is said I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to fight Should we then doubt whether their side be the side of Antichrist because their fauourers are many Nay thereby we are made the more certaine of it Another note they haue by which they thinke to further their part which is vnitie It is a good token of Christes disciples if they loue one another but to consent and to conspire together is not proper to the good but agreeth to the wicked also The heathen agreed all in their generall superstition and no falling out greatly among them for it The Turks haue but two parts or sects and ech sect agreeth and holdeth strait together All the Israelites agreed to make the Golden calfe the tenne tribes consented to the setting vp of the calues in Dan and Bethel And what maruell then if all the West parts of the world haue consented together to worship and maintaine the Romish beast Iohn saith the tenne kings haue one minde and shall giue their power and authoritie to the beast And heere it is said Their armies were gathered together to fight They were not dispersed and scattered but gathered together in one purpose and in one meaning to fight against Christ and his armie The common sort of Papistes seeme to care for no point else in religion but onelie this The Spanish and Italian and French and the ignorant English papists seeke scarse any further into the cause but onely stand vpon that head and branch that the Holy ghost hath set downe that is to fight against Christ and his armie As for all other pointes of religion it is their greatest religion not to search into religion Thus the Holy ghost in two wordes setteth downe much of that whereupon they stand and which in our dayes we see fulfilled These are the generall notes of their armies gathered out of these words In that there are armies named we may well gather that they are of moe kindes then one They themselues diuide their whole multitude into the Spiritualtie and Laitie So by their owne diuision they haue two kindes of armies one of great learned men lawyers diuines and other professours of learning and another of captaines and souldiers and armed men and generallie the rest of the people Such an armie as the first is especially of priestes Lib. 4. epist 38. Gregorius Magnus assigneth vnto Antichrist Rex superbiae propè est quod dici quoque nefas est sacerdotum ei praeparatur exercitus The king of pride is neere at hand and that which is an heinous thing to speake an armie of priests is prepared for him And this he spake agreeable to this reuelation For Iohn sayth I saw three vncleane spirites like frogges come out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet For they are spirites of deuils working miracles to goe vnto the kinges of the earth and of the whole world to gather them to the battell of that great day of God almightie Yea and their indeuour was not in vaine for they did gather them together In this chapter it is sayd The beast was taken and with him the false Prophet that wrought miracles before him whereby hee deceiued them that receiued the beastes marke These spirits this false prophet are set downe to note their first and most dangerous kinde of armie They call themselues the spiritualtie and this scripture calleth them spirits How could it come neerer The other name of false prophets is taken from the state of the Olde Testament for as then false prophets alwayes opposed themselues against the true prophets so now their priests and monkes and the rest of their religious rabble against the true preachers of the Gospell But why doeth hee terme them the false prophet and not false prophets when it is euident that they are many Is it for their consent in this matter of gainesaying or is it not rather for that in euery age and for ech profession of lawe and diuinitie they haue one especially vpon whose wit and learning they all depend for their law Gratian for their diuinitie Lumbard after him in one age Aquinas and against Luther Eckius in this time Bellarmine for so in ech age they seeme to sucke their learning and all their arguments and quiddities from the breast of some one aboue all the rest But for what cause soeuer it is termed in the singular number false prophets pertaine to the state ecclesiasticall and they are the greatest doers in these warres Nowe consider all the states in the world besides and see where there is authoritie yea or almost any dealing for warre matters put in the hands of them to whome the matters of religion directlie are committed Among all those that professe the Gospell in all kingdomes of Christendome there is scarse any one in a kingdome admitted to councell about those thinges much lesse doe they contriue warres and stirre them vp or almost intermeddle in them Amongst the Turkes they haue not to deale in it their religious persons are not the procurers of their warres by running from one prince to another They shake a speare and vse some wordes in their owne temple to stirre vp the people to fight against Christians but otherwise they contriue not the warres In the Tartarian gouernment the affaires of the warres are not in such mens hands So that in this poynt the Papists onely are fully answerable to this prophesie and the Turkes come next vnto them but yet they are but babes to them in this exercise Let the name of the false prophet be common to Mahomet and his
among our selues there are that blaspheme the hoste of the liuing God and say that wee are not the armie of Christ And albeit that it were out of question that we are Christes armie yet we see in all places that there is a mutinie in this armie and it is necessarie if we will obtaine the victorie that we must be an vnited armie Thus I haue set before you the matter that I must speake of and the causes that mooued me to it Nowe therefore I will first intreate of the beast The beast in this place is set for one of the greatest enemies of Iesus Christ vpon earth which is the generall and chiefe captaine ouer kings and their armies in the fielde against Christ The deuill is doubtlesse the chiefe leader of all that fight against our Sauiour But he in the Reuelation is not called the beast but by other names for he is named the Dragon the olde serpent and satan The deuill is not the beast but giueth his power to the beast the beast is not the dragon but speaketh like the dragon The beast is a visible earthly power raised vp by the diuell that hath authoritie ouer kings To know him is almost to ouercome him for fewe are hurt by him but such as knowe him not This beast as I said is the Pope of Rome The Papistes as they resist other positions that we holde against them so aboue all others they must needes stand against this They will not haue the Pope to be the beast for they knowe that this beast is Antichrist And what is Antichrist but the capitall enemie to Iesus Christ Wherefore they see that if the Pope be the beast then all reuerence and obedience to him must of necessitie be forsaken Nowe therefore I will shewe that all things which are spoken in Scripture of this beast Antichrist agree most fitly to the popedome and not to any other earthly power This Beast that is spoken of heere is the same that is mentioned Apoc. 13.11 which was the second beast that Iohn sawe which came vp out of the earth and had two hornes like the Lambe but spake like the Dragon it is the same beast which whosoeuer worshippeth or his image or receiueth his marke hee must drinke of the wine of the wrath of God Apoc 14.9 and it is that beast which sendeth out of his mouth three vncleane spirites like frogs to gather the kings to the battell here spoken of Apoc. 16.13 It is that scarlet coloured beast full of names of blasphemie which hath seuen heads and ten hornes Apoc. 17.3 of the same beast mentioned so before it is said here I sawe the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to fight against him that sate vpon the horse and against his armie This beast both in the Reuelation and in other partes of Scripture hath diuers other names for it is named the great whore that sitteth vpon many waters Apoc 17.1 The woman araied in purple and scarlet and gilded with gold and precious stones and pearles Apoc. 17.4 and it is called Babylon the great citie Apoc. 18.2 That which Paul speaketh of the Apostasie and of the man of sinne and the sonne of perdition whom he calleth an aduersarie 2. Thes 2.3 is vnderstood of this beast But the most vsuall and familiar name that all ecclesiasticall writers do giue to this most famous enemie of Christ and his Church is that which Iohn vseth when hee saieth Babes it is the last time and as ye haue heard that Antichrist shall come euen now are there many Antichrists whereby wee knowe that it is the last tyme 1. Iohn 2.18 And againe Euery spirite which confesseth not that Iesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God but this is the spirite of Antichrist of whom yee haue heard how that hee should come and now alreadie hee is in the world This principall enemie of Christ that maketh warre here against him named an aduersarie the man of sinne the sonne of perdition called Babylon the great whore Antichrist and the second beast is the Pope of Rome with his popish gouernement The deuill as hee laboured that Christ should not bee knowen when he was in the world and wrought mans saluation by his death so likewise he doeth what he may to hide Antichrist that he may worke destruction of soules and yet not be suspected to doe it That the Papacie may not bee called the kingdome of Antichrist the papists obtrude to the world a certaine imagined Antichrist such a beast as neuer was nor euer shall bee for they say Antichrist must be one particular man borne of the tribe of Dan which shall haue his seate in Ierusalem in the temple there and shall subdue three kings first namely of Egypt Ethiopia and Libya and then other seuen and shall raigne three yeeres a halfe neither more nor lesse and shall be honoured of the Iewes as their Christ and Messias and shall be circumcised and shall abolish baptisme and the Masse and shall set vp his own image in the temple and cause the world to worship it and he will deny Iesus to be Christ and cause himself to be honoured as God and so be called and that hee shall giue a marke and set it on mens foreheads or on their right hands the print of it shal be his name and the letters of his name shall make the number of 666. And that hee may mooue men to worship him the rather he shall doe many myracles and especially shall faine himselfe to die and rise againe from the dead and cause fire to come downe from heauen in the sight of men that Enoch and Elias shal come in their owne persons and prophesie against him that Christ at the ende of three yeeres and a halfe shall ouercome him put him downe and that at the end of fourtie dayes after shal be the generall iudgement And before this Antichrist can come they say that the gospel must be receiued publikely of all kingdomes and people in the world that the empire of Rome which now the Germanes hold must cleane both in name and substance be abolished for that is a great let vnto him for while that standeth he cannot come at Ierusalem This is the papists worshipfull Antichrist a perilous beast that shall raigne but three yeeres and a halfe By this notion of Antichrist deepely printed in their heads their minds are turned away from seeing the Pope to bee the very beastly Antichrist as hee is They nourish the beast in their owne bosom and let him sucke of their breasts or rather sucke themselues poison out of that Whores breasts while they imagine that hee shall come they know not when to Ierusalem in another shape What should make them thinke that Antichrist is one singular person The first beast they and all men confesse is the state and succession of the empire of Rome as it was heathen persecuted the
Rome that nowe is for it signifieth excidium excelsae the ruine of the high citie it alludeth to that of Sibylla 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rome a ruine This should be the place and shop of all conspiracies against Christ and his Gospell Harma signifieth the high citie that hath dominion ouer the rest and differeth in sounde very little from Haroma and short in Hebrew it might so be written Harma In the place where this ancient great citie was cut downe by the Goths there the other was erected or hard by in steede of it and thence come all mischiefes to Christes Church There are the battel 's conspired and made What could be said plainer to describe the citie then that of the seuen hils or this of Harma so neere in sounde to Rome and in sence the high and mightie citie Nowe as concerning the kings there are two orders of them pertaining to the citie first seuen and then ten Seuen heads are also seuen kings and ten hornes be ten kings But the ten kings are kings assisting and with power helping the beast at the first and after as willing and ready to pul downe the beast as they were to set him vp But of those assisting kings afterward The 7. kings are the states of Rome in it selfe succeeding one another from the beginning to the end in the gouernment of it which is manifest because he saith thus The 7. hils are also 7. kings fiue are fallen and one is and another is not yet come and when he commeth he must continue a short space and the beast that was and is not is euen the eight and is one of the seuen and shall goe into destruction They that expound this of Galba Otho Vitellius Vespasian and Titus fiue past Domitian present Cocceius Nerua the seuēth the eight Traian a Spaniard say nothing to the purpose For besides that Iohns prophesie could not be shut vp in so short a compasse not onely 5. but moe Emperors were past no man can tell howe Traian should be the eight and yet one of the seuen that were before And to vnderstande it of the seuen Electors of the Empire is much further from the matter for none of them were then much lesse fiue past alreadie The seuen kings therefore are the seuen states of gouernment in Rome from the building of it whereof fiue were past before S. Iohns time for first they were gouerned by Kings secondly by Consuls thirdly by Decemuiros fourthly by Triumuiros and fifthly by Dictators all which were past and in effect were kings although not in name The sixt were the Emperors that reigned in Iohns tyme and after till Rome was destroyed The seuenth is thought to bee the popedome which hath succeeded the Emperours and he is also the eight for hee sustaineth two gouernments one temporall another spirituall and his spirituall gouernment is one of the seuen for it is also externall and in pompe like that of the Emperours Wherefore they would make him the seuenth and the eight too and his spirituall dominion which is the eight is also temporall and so one of the seuen because it is exercised after a temporall maner But this diuiding and applying of the popedome vnto two or three states is not agreeable especially when the seuenth which they make his temporall gouernment should last but a short time and yet it hath lasted longer then any of the other gouernments Therefore we may say that the gouernment of the Gothes or rather the Exarchi of Rauenna for they helde Rome a season was the seuenth and that lasted but a short time then came the popedome which is like one of the seuen for he is a priestly king or emperour To make Pontifex Maximus in Rome one of the seuen that is not so fit because the Pontifex as Pontifex neuer had entire and soueraigne gouernment of all and he succeeded not the other gouernments but was a companion to them all Neither did Tribuni rule as chiefe Magistrats but were intercessors for the people with the chiefe Magistrate Thus hath Iohn euidently described Rome vnto vs with the double persecuting state thereof There is no citie can be shewed to haue altered the kind of gouernment so oft and if others may be found to haue done it yet the other marks together with this agree to none but this Besides these thinges in the Reuelation there remaineth somwhat in Paul pertaining to the description of this beast which sheweth his intollerable pride Paul saith of Antichrist he exalteth himselfe against all that is called God or that is worshipped so that he doeth sit as God in the Temple of God shewing himselfe that he is God This the Papistes deny to agree to the Pope and therefore thinke he is not that proud beast for say they he calleth him selfe seruum seruorum Dei acknowledgeth himself the vicar of Christ so farre is he from making himselfe Christ and God in the temple of God and he praieth to God Christ and kneeleth at his altars humbly But he must be measured not by his hypocriticall actions nor by his wordes in his hypocrisie but by the nature and kinde of his gouernment Fox saith that he exalteth himselfe aboue all that is called God or is augustum in earth when he lifteth himselfe aboue Emperors and kings for they are not gods but are called gods and they are Augusti they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in earth they of all men should haue honour and worship giuen to them But the Emperors and kings he hath so debased that he hath made them thinke it some honor for them to kisse his foote The Pope hath caused the Emperour to holde his stirope hee hath put his feete in the Emperours necke he hath fed a Prince like a dogge vnder his table and he hath turned the imperiall crowne from the heade with his foote hee hath made the Emperour attend at his gate bare footed In this behalfe they haue done that also which pertaineth onely to God for they will giue and take away kingdomes at their pleasure Thus in one sence they haue exalted themselues aboue all that is called God or that is worshipped and shewed themselues as God And they haue shewed themselues as God many other waies in respect of the conscience either in holding it gilty or in acquiting it for that pertaineth onely to God But they would bind it by their lawes interpretatiō of scriptures thundring of excommunications against the innocent loose it by forgiuing sinnes granting pardons dispensations in all kind of things Thus haue they shewed themselues as God in the Temple of God in respect of mens consciences And in respect of heauē hel purgatory he hath pretēded to rule as God in al these places for he will make saints in heauen whome he wil and hold in purgatorie or let out whome he list and for this last it is no marueile for it is of his
seeing it is the spirit that giueth grace and breatheth where it listeth why not vpon the good heart when the word is read In the time of persecution vnder Queene Marie the reading of some fewe bookes brought many to the light and did preserue them in it Euery faithfull man hath experience how his owne reading edifieth why should not then the publike reading edifie The want of skill to preach maketh not a nullitie in him as in a child or a beast for he giueth consent to that he taketh in hand and nature it selfe excludeth such from the office Faith in deed commeth by hearing and hearing by the word of God and they cannot heare without a preacher But reading is a certaine kind of preaching for if the shewing of Christ himselfe without words when Christ descended into hell was and is of many learned men called preaching and so they could vnderstaÌ„d the preaching that Peter speaketh of then why might not the reading of the word of God be called a preaching of it Act. 15.20 And Iames calleth the reading preaching Moses he saith of old time hath in euery citie them that preach him seeing he is read in the Synagogues euery Sabbath day This importeth that reading is a kind of preaching There were ministers that only read in the Synagogues of the Iewes When they were so ready to desire a stranger to speake it seemed it was not ordinary to haue an expounder in euery Synagogue They were not alwaies preachers that did baptize Christs disciples baptized Iohn 4. when as in the iudgment of many that are learned Christ had not sent forth any yet to preach I speake not this to make reading preaching in the Church equal or that reading should banish preaching or preaching exclude reading The expounding of scripture and applying of it to the present state by the working of Gods spirit in the mouth of a man called for that purpose is most excellent necessary for al Churches our Lawes and gouernment do require it Otherwise as some conclude let all be readers banish preachers quite heare only the reader if there be no excellency nor necessitie of the preacher aboue the reader Therfore let the preacher by voice by inuention froÌ„ the spirit and his own heart haue the first place and as the case standeth with vs the reader must not haue no place at all They may be weake ministers or ministers of necessitie or assisting ministers although they be not the chiefe nor most perfect and sufficient Thus much of that matter The fift defect they find in the ministery is in the dueties which are put vpon them or taken from them Burying of the dead ioyning of man wife in marriage making of funerall sermons going about the bounds of parishes all these in their opinions are no works of the Minister of the Gospell And againe whereas they ought to gouerne in their congregations together with others all gouernmeÌ„t is taken from vs. besides wheras no Minister should be aboue a Pastor Byshop are aboue vs therefore say they are we no Pastours nor Ministers of the Gospel Publike prayer doth aptly agree and is a duety of our calling This is not wickedly ioyne with buriall and marriage considering our owne frailtie which are alwaies neere death and the difficulties in mariage which God onely helpeth God himselfe ioyned the fiâ—â—â— mariage why may not his Ministers now doe it in his name seeing yet they which are married are ioyned together by God The word may be preached in season and out of season and no time amisse when the people come together and are fit to be taught What time better to comfort them that mourne or to rebuke the sinner or to put vs in mind of our frailtie then at the buriall of the dead The going about the bounds and limits of parishes pertaineth to his own maintenance and the common quiet therefore the doing of these things hath nothing contrary to his duty seeing they hinder not that which is principal but rather further it And as for the gouernmeÌ„t it is not mete for al so much neither as they do chaleÌ„ge was neuer in the church permitted to euery particular pastor To admonish to suspeÌ„d to rebuke is granted to vs and more is not necessary the labor of preaching is inough Pastours haue had superiours ouer them in the churches First Apostles then Byshops and so is it at this day Neyther is there any disorder in it In a moderate subiection the minister may better performe his duty more safely His pouerty and meanes cannot sustaine the burthen of publike gouernment any further theÌ„ for teaching exhorting rebuking suspeÌ„ding or withholding the vnworthie from the Sacraments In the sixt place they will perswade that we are no ministers because many remaine ignoraÌ„t vnder vs the sinnes of men are not cut off but abouÌ„d notwithstanding al we do This should argue Gods curse vpon vs and vpon our ministerie If none did profite by vs we might mistrust our selues but of many we may say Yee are our Epistle yee beare witnesse of the fruite which we bring Yea this continuall peace all this time is especially vnder God and our most gracious Queene to be ascribed to the preaching of the word of God among vs. That sects and poperie spread not ouer all it is to be imputed much vnto publike preaching There is no place in this land but the word of God worketh in the hearts of some to their conuersion The seuenth crime is against our maintenance We liue by set stipends by tenths and we depend vpon noble men and such as are able to pleasure vs we preach for gaine we hunt after liuings and ioyne diuerse together An vnlawfull maintenance if this were granted so to be maketh not an vnlawful ministerie If for gaine we should peruert the truth then we should degenerate from our office why should set stipeÌ„ds hurt our ministery Is an vncertaine liuing meeter then a certaine Tenths do not reuiue the ceremonial law we take not them in that sence The Emperours had them afterward bestowed theÌ„ vpon the Churches We chalenge them not by the law of Moses but by the gift of the prince And the Barrowists theÌ„selues confesse that as they were giuen by princes so they may be taken away by them To adhere to them that are great so that we helpe them in truth do not for theÌ„ peruert the truth hath no dispraise but coÌ„meÌ„dation In a good Christian gouernment if we be linked one to another by many dueties it is the safer and if the liuings be of the prince and lawes then may the prince lawes vnite or seuer them in some moderate sort so that the dueties to the people be perfourmed These are the chiefe crimes which they lay against vs. In all this there is nothing of false doctrine in any matter of saluation in any article of our faith but all is of things that are cleane